Assistant Director, Rice Emerging Scholars Program

Position Summary

The assistant director of the Rice Emerging Scholars Program (RESP) is responsible for assisting with the planning, execution, and assessment of all components of a comprehensive summer program for incoming first-year STEM students. The assistant director coordinates all elements of the RESP summer program outside of the classroom and provides leadership in the form of advising, training, and supervision to the upperclassmen who serve as RESP Student Fellows. The assistant director is also the primary advisor to RESP Scholars during the academic year and works with the other assistant directors to provide comprehensive academic and student transition support throughout their tenure at Rice.

Ideal Candidate Statement

Ideal candidates should have strong advising and problem-solving skills, along with experience and interest in working with diverse student populations.

Workplace Requirements

This position is exclusively on-site, full-time, necessitating all duties to be performed in person at Rice University. Per Rice policy 440, work arrangements may be subject to change.

Hiring Range

$60,000-$65,000 annually, contingent upon qualifications and experience
*Exempt (salaried) positions under FLSA are not eligible for overtime.*

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's degree
• 2+ years of experience providing student support in a college or university
  • In lieu of the experience requirement, additional related education beyond what is required may be substituted on an equivalent year-for-year basis

Skills

• Knowledge of theories including student development, learning, and identity development, and experience applying those frameworks professionally
• Ability to problem-solve and support/advise students in personal and/or academic crisis
• Strong communication and rapport-building skills and experience collaborating with faculty, staff, students, families, and administration
• Ability to multitask and manage multiple projects with competing deadlines
• Demonstrated understanding of the experiences of students in transition and the strategies necessary to facilitate their success
• Experience and comfort working with diverse student populations, including but not limited to first-generation college students, low-income students, and underrepresented student populations
• Coaching and instructional skills, organizational abilities, attention to detail, and the ability to quickly assess the effectiveness of an intervention

Preferences

• Master's degree (preferably in college student personnel, counseling, student affairs, or a related field)
• Familiarity with student transition issues, particularly in highly selective academic environments
• Experience working with social media platforms and website design
• Experience working with new or first-year student populations
• Experience working with underrepresented student populations, particularly in STEM disciplines
• Experience in event planning and execution
• Experience providing academic support, leadership development, and program development
• Experience problem-solving and advising students with complex and diverse needs
• Experience employing proactive/intrusive advising strategies
• Experience supporting student success/undergraduate retention initiatives
• Experience working with faculty
• Experience working in a fast-paced, results-oriented environment
• Strong interpersonal communication skills and ability to build rapport and sustain relationships with students

Essential Functions

• Identify and advise approximately 65 RESP Scholars needing additional support, providing sustained, individualized, holistic, developmentally appropriate coaching to assist in their academic, social, leadership, and interpersonal development
• Assist first- and second-year students in developing roadmaps for their success at the university, using varied strategies to facilitate the identification and implementation of their goals
• Assist in monitoring student academic performance and persistence toward graduation, preparing reports, and maintaining student files as necessary
• Maintain awareness of best practices in proactive/holistic advising, student success coaching, and the higher education/student affairs landscape, integrating these ideas into advising practices
• Assist in developing student success interventions, workshops, and other programs aimed at facilitating the transition to college
• Develop training aimed at educating student leaders, faculty, and staff about the populations supported by the office and how they can help students transition
• Perform all other duties as assigned

Additional Functions

• Communicate and collaborate with residential college Magisters, Wellbeing, academic departments, Campus Life entities, and other campus resources as necessary to ensure students receive comprehensive support
• Provide support as needed to other initiatives in the Student Success Office, which could include--but are not limited to--New Families Orientation, Orientation Week (O-Week), office-wide marketing initiatives (social media, website), and programming support for first-generation and low-income students

Special Instructions to Applicants

All interested applicants should attach a resume and cover letter in the Supporting Documents section of the application, preferably in PDF format to avoid any formatting issues.